Chilly weather on the wayAl Vanstan | First Published: May 2012

This time of year is a great time to be out on our local waters with the trout and redfin fishing pretty much at its best as they become more aggressive in the lead up to spawning.

The native fish such as yellowbelly and catfish also tend to feed up a bit as they get ready for the onset of winter and their hibernation period. The yabbies will slow down as we head toward winter, so now is the time to head out and get a few before their season is over again for a few months.

Wimmera River

The fishing is starting to slow down in the river around Horsham with mostly carp being caught along with the occasional yellowbelly and catfish. The fishing has been much better below Horsham Weir all the way to Dimboola with a few nice catfish and yellowbelly being caught as well as a few redfin and many carp of all sizes.

The hot spots have been between Polkemmet and Wail with a few thumping yellowbelly to 4.5kg coming in over the last week or so. Bait fishing with worms and yabbies has been best with the most productive time being in the afternoons toward evening.

Natimuk Lake

This great little lake seems to be getting better with every trip I make out here with abundant rainbow trout around 1kg along with a few nice redfin to around 500g. I have been mostly flyfishing here in the evenings with small wets such as the Mrs Simpson, Hammils Killer and Woolly Worms and it usually doesn’t take long to get onto a few trout.

Baitfishing with mudeye, Powerbait and frozen whitebait is also working well as is trolling and casting lures and soft plastics.

Rocklands Reservoir

This has been one of our most popular waters with most areas such as the wall, Turkey Neck and Brodys producing some great fishing. Good catches of redfin are being taken in the timbered areas on baits such as yabbies and gudgeon as well as trolling deep divers and casting soft plastics.

Most of these redfin have been around the 400-600g mark but there has been a few bigger fish amongst them up to 1.5kg.

The yabbies have been going pretty well in most of the bays during the day and after dark and they have been of a good average size too and make for terrific eating.

The trout fishing has been slow but some are getting caught on trolled lures and mudeyes. A few Australian bass have also been showing up in catches here lately with local angler Wally Sudholz very surprised last weekend to land a 500g bass which took a jigged soft plastic near Brodys.

The carp have been out in force here over the last few weeks with some very large fish to 6kg being taken on most baits and on soft plastics. On my latest trip here I had to stop bait fishing because I got sick of catching big carp after big carp.

Lake Fyans

The fishing is starting to really fire up here with some very nice brown and rainbow trout to 2.5kg coming in over the last few weeks. All methods are working well here but bait fishing with mudeye or flyfishing with wets after dark has been producing the better fish.

The wall and south shore areas have been very popular flyfishing areas lately with the trout coming in very close after dark.

The redfin fishing has been good with the best catches being taken by simply trolling lures or drifting with small yabbies or gudgeon fished on a paternoster rig. The bigger than average redfin are often caught here this time of year and there are some real thumpers in here to well over the 2kg mark.

Lake Wartook

This lake is the one to be checking out this month if trout and redfin are your thing, as both species have been going very well here over the last few weeks. Trolling lures has been producing good catches as has drifting and casting soft plastics and vibes at any rocky or reedy area.

The flyfishing has been very good in the early mornings with some superb windlane fly fishing to be had. Some mornings the trout will be found rising right across the lake. Bait fishing with mudeye and peeled yabby tail is also working well particularly around the wall area.

Most of the trout have been around 1kg but the odd bigger brown to 2kg has been caught lately. Most of the redfin are around the 300-500g mark with a few up to 1kg.

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The author has found the flyfishing has been excellent at Natimuk Lake for rainbow trout to 1kg.

Curtis Vanstan with a nice catfish he caught out of the Wimmera River at Horsham.

A few nice trout are being taken at Rocklands, such as this brownie caught using mudeye for bait.